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Friday, October 15, 2010

A beauty at sea

I took the Trudeau One for a spin in the Caribbean yesterday, and what a lovely day it was. The Trudeau One is, like its RL counterpart the IOD, not only an extremely well designed and built boat; She sails well too. Perhaps sim crossings aren't her favourite, but the sailing itself... Whoa! Take a look:

Me and my One in the Carribean.

It is not just the hull and the mast that are NVR, Near Virtual Reality. The sails curve like real sails, and they luff, if you are being sloppy on the sheet. The boat heels as expected, and to retain good speed you must compensate by moving you and your crew around. There is also a nice spinnaker; When it is up , it looks really nice. When it is down, you can relax on the spinnaker-bag in the front. Just add a cold beer, and it really doesn't get any better.

A flyby in the Trudeau One.

Even the hud is designed to match the boat. No ugly numbers there, only analog displays and a few buttons to adjust the sailing; Now, one might argue that a hud isn't realistic. While that is true, the concept of a hud enables mouselook sailing. I therefore suspect the One is ready for primetime racing too, but perhaps the racers prefer more modern boats. What a pity.

The beautiful Trudeau One.

The Caribbeans was fun to sail, but it doesn't seem to be made for sailing. I had difficulties finding a harbour and a rez spot. Many places the water is so narrow - between two islands - that you gotta steer continuously in order to keep from running aground. Two boats won't fit in at once. On top of that, there are "no entry" zones reaching into the water around several islands. The scenery is nice, as you can probably see. With little variation, though, so if you hate coconut islands, go sail somewhere else.